Debating the morality behind software development

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Then touch on the other side

It's too hard for him, and many people, to think about the fact that the software you might be writing today may help to destroy an innocent person's life next year

that would hold true for many an endeavor. The rock garden I put in today may one day provide the ?blunt instrument? needed to murder another. Do I install the garden?

The statement is not ?too hard? for many to grasp, but instead is not logically moral or ethical in nature as if something created from the onset for the betterment or benefit of human life should not be halted as it may one day be corrupted.

Is there an ethical debate in the manufacturing of life saving medicines to the point that it is not made, as it may also be used to destroy a life in the future if used beyond its intended application?

Every decision we make affects people in both positive and negative ways, either directly or indirectly: If you and I going to work tomorrow places our cars at the red light ahead of a person who would have driven thru it resulting in an accident, then that is a good thing. Yet the resulting accident could have revealed a small brain tumor in the head of the passenger of one of the vehicles during the post accident x-ray at the hospital, thus saving a life, now it would be discovered a year later, too late to save their life. Do we stay indoors, or do we go out?

Where do the ethics of the programmer come into play if software they create, used to safely control a nuclear power plant, may one day be used to wrest control of said power plant in a way detrimental to the populace it was intended to protect? Is the author stating that a beneficial feature added to software that un-intentionally helps a pedophile get onto the network more easily is OK, while the worthless feature that does the same is not? Or is it just leave it out altogether as the end result is the same?

Will the loss of that feature impact any one in a negative way?

Posted by: GuidingLight   Posted on: 10/15/07 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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